El Fórum Canario Saharaui rechaza la amenaza bélica polisaria

The Fórum Canario Saharaui has issued an official statement in which it denounces and rejects the "serious war threat" posed by the latest declarations of Mohamed Luali Akeik, Chief of Staff of the Saharawi Liberation Army, during an event in which he was accompanied by Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front. 

The official communiqué of the Saharawi Canarian Forum is reproduced below:

COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE SAHARAWI CANARY ISLANDS FORUM ON THE DECLARATION OF THE POLISARIO FRONT TO EXTEND THE WARLIKE CONFRONTATION OFF THE COASTS OF THE CANARY ISLANDS

Following the statements made on Saturday 21 May last by Mohamed Luali Akeik, Chief of Staff of the Saharawi Liberation Army (and former Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed SADR until January 2020), made during an event in the company of Brahim Ghali, and in which he stated imminent attacks on the cities of El Ayoun, Smara, Dakhla and Boujdour, this Saharawi Canarian Forum declares the following:

That we denounce and reject this serious threat of war, not only because of the danger to the civilian population - at that time its own people - who could suffer such attacks with the consequent obvious risk of casualties, but obviously we also denounce the threat and insecurity of having a military conflict so close to the coasts of the Canary Islands, just over 100 kilometres from Fuerteventura. We understand that the main economic vector of the islands, tourism, has suffered enough in recent years with the pandemic without having to suffer the deterrent effect of a military conflict so close to potential tourists, as well as other economic activities.

Mr. Luali Akeik stated that the conflict "will spread to the occupied cities, having imbued the Saharawis with a patriotic spirit to carry out commando operations against Moroccan targets". We demand that Mr. Luali stop using euphemisms and hypocrisy and clarify whether this circumlocution means what it really is: a threat of warlike confrontation or terrorist attacks in areas with a large civilian population.

We are convinced that the international community in general, and the EU in particular, cannot afford, in the context of the current war in Ukraine, threats of another armed conflict so close to its borders, and we hope that action will be taken. In that sense, in the heat of this, the successive endorsements by various countries of the autonomy proposal as a resolution of the conflict, which we have supported since our creation in 2007, should come as no surprise. And with such threats, it should come as no surprise to Polisario that such accessions are increasing exponentially.

That is why we believe that, in order to avoid more situations like this, such a resolution to this conflict should be promoted, within the framework of the UN and the latest Security Council resolutions, where the word referendum is no longer mentioned, but a solution adapted to the times and political realism, and which also puts an end to the suffering of the people exiled in the Tindouf camps and separated from their families in the rest of the territory.

In fact, we believe that this surprising move seems to be more a gesture of desperate weakness on the part of its leaders, in view of the recent turn of events and Spain's recognition of this proposal. A proposal far removed from war romanticisms more typical of other eras, such as those referred to by Luali Akeik, in reference to his Algerian protector and his revolution.

These outdated statements also omit the fact that a large majority of the inhabitants of these cities now under threat live, work and progress socially in peace, and that they do not agree with their postulates, as we have seen in successive regional and local elections with a large turnout.

Finally, we would like to recall that this radicalisation of the Polisario's positions takes them back to their origins with their terrorist past, with the already known number of Canarian victims, both of fishermen and of Fos Bucraa workers among others. All of this is seasoned with the connivance of the Canarian political class towards these leaders, especially the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, for its constant support and servility to the Polisario, to the detriment of the support and remembrance of these victims and their families, fellow countrymen betrayed by their own political class, who insist time and time again on supporting this journey to nowhere on which the Polisario leaders have been embarked for decades, with the sole aim of preserving their perks and social status, until the final disaster of a population they claim to represent and protect. And this threat of war off our shores is proof of that.